- Name means
- King of Righteousness
- Title
- Priest of the Most High, king of Salem
- Office
- Keeper of the ancient wisdom, and head of the priesthood that bears his name
- Ray
- Seventh Ray, the ray of ceremony and the sacred word
- Color
- Violet and gold
- Etheric retreat
- None fixed. He is said to come wherever he is sincerely called
- Symbols
- Bread and wine
Melchizedek is the eternal priest. He appears only briefly in the oldest scriptures, as a king of Salem who came out to meet Abraham with bread and wine and blessed him, and yet his name has carried a weight out of all proportion to those few lines. In the ascension teachings he is the keeper of the ancient wisdom, and the patron of all who serve the sacred without claiming it for themselves.
His presence is described as grave, kind and very old. People who meet him often say that they felt they were standing in a place that had been holy long before anyone built anything there.
The Priest-King
The account in Genesis is short. After a battle, Abraham is met by Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High. Melchizedek brings out bread and wine, blesses Abraham, and Abraham gives him a tenth of all he has. Then he disappears from the story. A later psalm speaks of a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and a later letter describes him as without father, without mother and without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.
The ascension teachings take these hints seriously. They describe Melchizedek as one who holds a priesthood older than any temple: not an institution, but a way of standing between heaven and Earth on behalf of others.
One Being or Two?
Some sources speak of two Melchizedeks: a great cosmic being who holds the wisdom of this universe, and the priest-king who served on Earth and afterward ascended. Others describe them as one presence, known at different scales. Our circle has not tried to settle the question. Ilse Varrow says that she has met a single presence, and that when she once asked about it the answer was that she should attend to the bread and the wine and leave the genealogy alone.
The Inner Priesthood
The order of Melchizedek, in these teachings, is not an organization that anyone can join or be expelled from. It is the company of all who make life sacred: who bless, who consecrate, who hold others up in prayer, and who ask nothing for it. A grandmother who blesses the bread before a family meal belongs to it as fully as anyone. So does a nurse who prays silently for a patient, or a stranger who stops to help.
Melchizedek is said to recognize members of this priesthood by their humility. He is wary of titles, and the teachings say that anyone who offers to ordain you into his order for a fee has misunderstood it entirely.
What Melchizedek Teaches
- Every act can be an offering. It depends on the heart that makes it.
- Bless first. Ask afterward.
- The oldest wisdom is not hidden. It is simple, and so it is overlooked.
- A priest stands between heaven and Earth so that both are served, not so that either is owned.
When to Call on Melchizedek
- Making daily life sacred: meals, work, rest and speech
- Remembering spiritual knowledge from other lives
- Leading prayer, ceremony or meditation for others with humility
- Right action when the right course is unclear
- Blessing a home, a meal or a new undertaking
How to Work With Melchizedek
Before a meal, place your hands near the bread or the food and the cup. Say his name, and then a simple blessing in your own words, giving thanks for everything and everyone that brought the food to you. Picture violet and gold light passing through your hands into what you are about to receive. Then eat slowly. Many students find that this small practice, kept daily, changes their sense of what the whole day is for.
An Invocation
Beloved Melchizedek, priest of the Most High,
bless the bread of my days and the cup of my nights.
Let my hands be hands that bless,
my words be words that heal,
and my life an offering made gladly.
A Word From Melchizedek
You ask me for secret knowledge. Here it is. Before you eat, give thanks. Before you speak, ask whether it will help. Before you sleep, forgive.
That is the whole of the priesthood. It has been taught in every age, and in every age it has been thought too plain to be true.
Received by Ilse Varrow